Additionally insured.

Asking to be added as Additional Insured often times is frowned upon by most in the industry. While the shipper often times would like the luxary of being added to our insurance as such, we refuse to give the shipper that luxary unless we have an ongoing relationship with one another and they are agreeing to give us enough freight to make it worth our while to assume all the risk on their behalf.

We will add a shipper or broker as a certificate holder so that their baseline interest are covered.

For a shipper or broker to be expected to receive a free ride on our insurance and legal departments is ludicrious. The few customers that are listed as Additioanlly Insured with us have paid for that right to be extended to them. The shipper and brokers legal department would love to be added as Additionally Insured, but the carrier's will not, most insurance companies worth their salt usually refuse unless there is a specific contract and they will always want to evaluate the risk before signing off on it.

Hope this helps to answer your questions.

The way it was explained to me once was that the additional insured status would give the broker or merchant the ability to be notified if the insured were to cancel their insurance. May be a neat idea for the broker or merchant but it is a crock for the one doing the additional insuring. Aside from the additional expense (which every broker or merchant has told me that the insurance company will do for free and is a total lie) it also gives the merchant or broker "the keys to the castle" In 1998 I had an incident with a feed mill in Ft Worth TX. Some how a door on one of thier out buildings had gotten all busted up. The manager of said feed mill went over to his file cabinet and pulled out an insurance cert listing them as additional insured. MINE. Next thing i know I have a massive claim for building damage and overhead door replacement. I had a truck in there shortly after the claim came in so I asked my driver to nose around a little and maybe take a picture or two. He did and saw a fork lift with some scratches and scuffed paint on it that matched up with the damage. When the company threatend to sue me for damages, they said they had "irrefutable digital pictures of the damage caused by my truck". This was interesting because i didn't have a truck there on the day the damage was done. I told the to bring it on as i also had "iffefutable evidence that none of my trucks could have possibly done the damage. The door in question was a building with a loading dock on the front and since i run only hoppers, there would be no reason for my rig to jump up on the dock and damage their door. When i pulled the pictures of the fork lift out along with the accompanying scuffs and paint transfers that matched up rather well, the judge looked over his glasses and asked the feed mill attorney if he could explain the situation in a little clearer detail. The attorney stuttered and stammered quite a bit. Case was dismissed and I additionally insure virtually no one on my policy. One other thing you should check out, if you are additionally insured on someones policy, where does your responsibility begin and end. If i additionally insure XYZ company on my policy and one of my drivers were to get in an accident and kill someone, will you be held liable as you are named as additionally insured on the policy. Get your legal eagles to check out that one. The results may surprise you. I know a couple companies that were tremendously surprised when they were named in a lawsuit for damages when they had been named as additionally insured on a carriers policy.

Here is the legal definition:

A type of status associated with general liability insurance policies that provides coverage to other individuals/groups that were not initially named. After endorsement, the additional insured will then be protected under the named insurer's policy and can file a claim in the event that they are sued.


So let's say your company is sued for something they did wrong and it had nothing to do with my company, by allowing you to be named addtitionally insured on my policy you could then file a claim on my policy to mitigate your losses. While this is not and was not the intent of the letter of the law, it has been known to happen, this is why we are extremely cautious when allowing shippers or brokers (and I have never yet allowed a broker to be added as additonally insured) to be added as additionally insured. I do not want to expose my company anymore than I have to just to haul a load.

The other reason shippers want the additionally insured is that basically it mitigates in the event of a lawsuit the full responsibility to the broker/carrier in the event of a lawsuit that may occur due to the broker/carrier's errors.

I will tell you what Matt, I will be more than happy to add your company as additionally insured if you want to go to contract with my company for hopper and dry vans and you can gurantee that my trucks will move at $3.00 per mile all miles plus FSC. That is worth my company taking the risk to add yours, otherwise it will be certificate holder. I only have four companies that currently have that option with our company and that is what the cost for each one of those companies where to be added. It cost me additional money on my insurance policy for each of those custmers each year, I have to evaluate each year as to whether I will continue to keep them additionally insured or just let the customer go.

I have given you both sides now, and a wise carrier will never add a shipper or broker as additionally insured just for a every once in a while load. This is reserved for long term relationships where both parties are indeed looking out for the other, and both parties indeed know the cost associated with this form of protection.

Glad to be of help.

We have hauled out of your locations through another commodity broker that did not require the additionally insured certificate. I hope you understand why we have not hauled for you direct now.

20 bucks

We have 7 customers that require it and they are all 20 bucks apiece

There is nothing added to my insurance at the end of the year . I can add somebody new today and pay 20 bucks and its done .

Auto Owners Ins in Lansing Mi. Been with them over 20 years . Great people